Simple enough trip.Met up with Andrewbish at the truck park opposite the Kalkallo hotel and drove without incident to the mountain.Stopped halfway up the mountain to put more firewood in the trailer [Vicroads doing some felling of bushfire killed trees] and after getting to the camp site spent 3 hours moving all the firewood and gear. Cool night and I was up at 0500 and then spent a couple of hours sorting through gear and cleaning out the firepit.

Driving was reasonably hard work for a one nite stay It will make setting up camp and living well for 3 weeks or more so much easier tho.Thanks to Andrew for his invaluable help unloading a tonne or more of firewood and helping me camouflage the dump from casual sight

I'm sure he will add a few photos to the report, he took more than I did

And I am waiting for Andrew to post some pictures and comments here LOL

I was working so hard that by the time I started to take more photos it was too dark.It is a very pretty area and yes, it is very different with a metre or more of snow on the ground. Reminds me I need to get a new shovel just in case the one we left at the hut disappears

Kinsayder wrote:Great timing, Andrew! So what do you two do up there? Is it a three week stay? Are you hutting or tenting? Sorry for so many questions but this has gotten me quite intrigued.

What will we be doing? XC skiing, snow shoeing, igloo/snow cave making, popping down to Falls Creek town (8km away). Repeat.I will be up there for 5-6 days, but MD is making this his home away from home for 3 weeks, maybe 4.

We will probably also do a bit of sitting around the fire, singing sea shanties and talking bs.

Moondog admires the modified fireplace, now with cooking area and a fire pit

One last thing - all are welcome to come along, whether for a few days,a week, or longer. The more, the merrier, I say. You could even make the camp a stopover on a trip of your own as the site is very central the routes between Bogong Village (over the Fainters), Hotham, Falls Creek and Mt Bogong.

I think that old cast iron brake drum got heavier as we carried it to the campsite.Nice photo of the hut, Parks have been doing some work there replacing tap washers and such and there is some new anti- feral fencing in. Brumbies are a damned nuisance in this area but the toilet roof still slopes the wrong way so a shovel is needed each trip just in case access is difficult

I would love to come, Andrew and Moondog, I really would but I have two small girls (one is four years old and the other seven months old) and a pesky masters degree that is keeping me from doing such things. By mid June I should get a mini break and will head into the Grampians and in September I've got three days to (possibly) head out from the Loch Carpark to Feathertop via the Diamantina Spur and back via the Razorback. It's hardly three weeks of adventure but leave passes are getting rarer these days. Please keep us posted!

Well you could always reroute to start at Falls Creek and pass us on the way through. I do understand your commitments tho, my kids are all grown up HappilyWhat's the Masters in?? My Evil Step Daughter is half way through her PhD and doesn't get time to scratch

You either take Express to the Cloud9 cafe and walk the ridgeline via the Laura Dunkley shelter to the road at Ruined Castle or take Gully and Eagle ditto, either way saves 4 or 5 k of uphill road walking

As someone who is 7 months pregnant and living in QLD for two years this will be the first season in 18 years that I haven't made it down. So you can pretty much guarantee that it will be the most amazing season ever lol Fingers crossed the summer drift is still about on signature hill in december so I can at least hike for a few turns when I get back

That's a shame, MD. The purpose of the mid-September escape (aside from the obvious) is to avoid the immediate post Federal election news. I don't think I can cope with it. I'll certain try for it next year (although there is a glimmer of a chance that next year I will cash all of my leave in one fell swoop and spend some time in Yosemite). Assuming this is an annual thing.

Thanks for the heads up for this season , BM. Hopefully it's a good year!

Kinsayder wrote:That's a shame, MD. The purpose of the mid-September escape (aside from the obvious) is to avoid the immediate post Federal election news.

I'm a big fan of using the back country to avoid painful realities. The main instigator of my return to hiking after a 25 year absence was avoiding having to watch Collingwood win the grand final in 2010. My account of that period may amuse.

Kinsayder wrote:That's a shame, MD. The purpose of the mid-September escape (aside from the obvious) is to avoid the immediate post Federal election news.

I'm a big fan of using the back country to avoid painful realities. The main instigator of my return to hiking after a 25 year absence was avoiding having to watch Collingwood win the grand final in 2010. My account of that period may amuse.

A

I hear you on the footy front, Andrew. I did the Bluff circuit to avoid that match. I had a big day getting into the hut (partly due to a lengthy false-start and partly due to the shock of knee high snow at that altitude in late September). Anyway, I ate early and crawled into my sleeping bag despite it being about 7pm and there being a couple at the hut too. A little while later I heard the girl on her phone "Oh, really... Wow... That hasn't happened for a while." I knew it was a draw. So much for escape. I didn't know then that I'd be seated in the second row of the MCG 12 months later (we get tickets if Geelong play), like this year, perhaps. Nice blog post too!

Not quite, Andrew. I figured that with four of our top dozen players missing we might have struggled. It was a good game and whilst Collingwood supporters are genuine ferals and Dane Swan looks sillier than most clowns, they are a pretty admirable team. Still, we just might pull it off again this year. We'll see.

Neil, you can have your St Kilda. I don't envy that at all.

Moondog (and Andrew), good luck with it all. I hope it goes brilliantly!